Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. Sells 423,323 Shares of Lamb Weston $LW

Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) by 53.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 362,327 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 423,323 shares during the quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc.’s holdings in Lamb Weston were worth $15,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lamb Weston in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $125,662,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Lamb Weston by 45,177.0% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,835,245 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $118,768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,828,983 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Lamb Weston by 27.4% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,824,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $411,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,874 shares in the last quarter. Ion Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in Lamb Weston in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $84,379,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Lamb Weston by 2,682.3% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 801,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $33,584,000 after purchasing an additional 772,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.56% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on LW shares. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on Lamb Weston from $48.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Lamb Weston from $46.00 to $40.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Lamb Weston from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Lamb Weston from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Lamb Weston from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $47.82.

Lamb Weston Stock Up 3.1%

Lamb Weston stock opened at $45.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.46, a PEG ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.47. Lamb Weston has a 52-week low of $37.62 and a 52-week high of $67.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 1.46. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $44.24.

Lamb Weston (NYSE:LW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 1st. The specialty retailer reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.11. Lamb Weston had a net margin of 4.61% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Lamb Weston will post 2.85 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Peter J. Bensen purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $39.45 per share, with a total value of $197,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $678,697.80. The trade was a 40.97% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jana Partners Management, Lp purchased 136,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $40.89 per share, with a total value of $5,561,040.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,148,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $210,541,792.20. This trade represents a 2.71% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased 391,000 shares of company stock valued at $16,270,790 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Lamb Weston Profile

Lamb Weston, traded on the NYSE under the symbol LW, is a leading global processor and supplier of frozen potato products. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of potato-based items such as French fries, potato wedges, hash browns and specialty cuts tailored to the foodservice and retail grocery channels. Lamb Weston serves quick-service restaurants, full-service operators, grocery chains and food distributors, offering customized product formats, packaging solutions and seasoning options to meet evolving customer demands.

Founded in 1950 and headquartered in Eagle, Idaho, Lamb Weston has grown from a regional processor into one of the world’s largest producers of frozen potato products.